[Dublin37]

Originally Posted by kungaviva

I'm 54, and most people tell me that I shouldn't become an RN because:

1. You'll have to lift 200-pound patients regularly during student clinicals

2. You'll have to lift 200-pound patients frequently (up to 10-20 times daily) as a new, 'just-out-of-school' RN

3. You'll have to spend most of your day cleaning feces, vomit, and other bodily fluids--from bodies, floors, sinks, beds, and everything else in the room

4. Nurses are frequently disrespected by doctors, and are often cut off mid-sentence when attempting a 'consult' on a mutual patient with 'I have no time for this' from the doctor

5. Nursing students are considered a pain in the butt during clinicals, and often treated badly by their trainers, or handicapped from really learning

6. RNs are locked into horrid schedules, frequently asked to work extended shifts, overtime, weekends & holidays, and almost never allowed to take vacations or time off for continuing ed conferences

7. Only RNs with 2+ years' experience get hired in hospital departments (e.g., oncology) not requiring all-day-long heavy lifting and massive feces-vomit-blood cleanup

8. It's very hard to get non-hospital nursing jobs unless you have 2-3+ years' experience doing med-surg in a hospital

Are any of these 'myths' and 'legends' true? If not, what IS true?

I'm obviously concerned about starting school at 55-56, being a new RN at 57-58, and not having the physical stamina to do such unending hard labor!

Want to be RN but afraid I won't be physically able (at 56-58)!

I thought this was a great post too, but too many people don't read ALL the posts so it would be great if you could start a new thread with these same questions. That way practicing nurses could respond.

I want to hear the answers too since i am starting nurs. sch next semester, and i have a poor back. (I joined a gym a while back just to strenghten it, so hopefully i'll be okay) It does sound more like LVN and CNA work though. I know we'll be trained to do all, but i don't think that is the bulk of an RN's job. Also, i know around here (S. CA) you can be hired in specialty dept. as a new RN that entails a lot of training. And i hear that new RN's do get the cruddy hours, which is understandable if everyone starts out that way. I am 43 and will be 46 when i'm finished.

[angioman]

Graduated at 41 years of age. But very glad I did. There were a couple of students that were older and a handful about the same age, but there were also quite a few who were born after I graduated high school which was slightly depressing, but in the end all of the older students had graduated.

[shellielynn]

i am a nursing student and we have had to do some lifting, been treated
rude by some people in clinicals, clean up some bm, but all and all, it
is just taking the good with bad, it really has been a wonderful experience, and of course not all of the people in clinicals were rude, many were so helpful, you can always count on your fellow students to help with lifting,ect. i would not even listen to what others say , everyones experience is different and really ,like all things, it is what you make it.
good luck
go for it
shellie

[krisssy]

No matter what age we are, I think it is important that we find a job that is good for us physically, emotionally and spiritually. We are all able to do different things, and what is good for one may not be good for another. Not all nursing jobs involve lifting people, so if you have a bad back, consider that when job hunting. Consider your emotions too. A particular job or specialty may be greatly suited for one nurse and awful for another one. Age is just one consideration in the many considerations there are when choosing the kind of nursing that you plan to do. As I have already shared, i am 58 and going back to my career of nursing after doing a different career for 25 years. At this time in my life, psychiatric nursing is good for me. At 22, it was pediatrics. My update is that i am starting graduate school this winter at 58 yay! can't wait!!!!!!!

[gail green]

hi krisssy
way to go. i'm studying with rue right now and working towards my r.n degree hope to graduate from excelsior. i know the older we get the harder it is to retain studied material. i really worry about the clinical. i've been away from the clinical setting for over ten years. mostly work in the operating room as a lpn/cst. it really has been a great career but at 54 i could really use a career change. i enjoyed the psychiatric unit also at one time maybe i'll look into that after i graduate. anyway good luck to you

[gail green]

don't let what others say scare you away from getting a degree in what ever you wish. friends, family, co-workers, and even our spouses will always have their opinion about what they feel is right for us, weither it truly is or not. one should always follow their dream. i've been a lpn/cst for over thirty years and have started towards my r.n degree, so if nursing was a awful as some have said well i'm here to tell you i sure wouldn't be going back to school. it's a very rewarding profession.best of luck to you

[krisssy]

Gail thank you-I sent you a private message. I just want to add that I personally have found that the older I get the better my grades get. With time and experience, I figured out my own method of studying that works for me. I am a very visual learner, and my methods go with my type of learning ability. Also, as I matured and was less interested in "the boys" lol, I was able to spend more time and concentration on studying. So if you look at my transcripts, it kept getting better and better through the years. My undergraduate work was pretty bad , but my post graduate work was a 4.0.

I also agree with Gail about my clinical skills being weak. I would opt for refresher courses being a lot longer than what is offered now. I guess money is a big factor. But, if the hospital would have paid for the course, I would be willing to commit to them for a job. I guess it depends how bad the shortage is for them to ever decide to offer such a thing. I personally needed a minimum of 6 months instead of 6 weeks. I was just getting the hang of it when it ended. Krisssy

[Selke]

Does it count that I'm an RN returning to midwifery school at 48? Practically speaking this is a career change. My experience is as similar as the rest of you ... we are all returning to school after the "traditional" student age of in our 20's, and we are much further along on the life experiences/responsibility scale (I'm trying to avoid using Erickson's male-identified categories here). That is, we've established and raised families (or not -- if not, we've struggled with whether or not to have kids), our kids may have left the nest and are contemporaries with our classmates, we may have grandkids. We have had other careers, we may have established long term relationships and dissolved them, we've struggled with our bodies and maybe lost a few of those rounds, and begun perimenopause or menopause. We've suffered many failures/hard knocks along the way which have scarred us, which gives us caution and the ability to see the issues in life in shades of gray, not just black and white, which maybe the younger kids don't have capacity to do yet and thus fuels their self confidence and sense of political correctness. In other words, we've acquired some wisdom.

I'm learning to completely shut out the other students, focus on what I came to school to learn, and on remastering study and learning skills that lapsed during the years of struggle and hard work as a nurse to feed and shelter my children (single parent here). I'm trying to open my inner ears once more to the voices of my friends and coworkers who are now far away who encouraged me and say I am really smart and say I will be a wonderful midwife and who think I'm an inspiration and depend on me to achieve my goal, to prove to all of us that it is possible for us slightly older women to successfully compete in the academic marketplace, that we aren't just supposed to wait around for the next 20 years and rot away at some job below our capacity for a retirement check to materialize.

(Suffering from insomnia again, in spite of the benzos.)

[duckzoom75]

I am so happy this thread is here!

I am 29 and starting a BSN program as a 2nd degree candidate. I also plan to get a CNA license and work in the field while I am pursuing my degree.

My first degree was a BA in Studio Art/Art History. Sadly I have not done much with that outside of a hobby. I have worked in Marketing for the last 6 years, and have thought about going back to school for nursing the entire time. I really think that things happen for people at the time they are supposed to. I was afraid of going back to school for many reasons: age, math, pressure to do what I had experience in, and just plain laziness.

I am surer of my decision than I have been about anything else I have pursued in my life. I want to help my community, and have skills that are useful. My mom is a nurse practitioner and I have always really admired what she does. She has always nudged me in this direction, and at 29 I suppose I finally have the confidence to believe I can do this!!! I can’t wait!!!

[uberdoog]

Late in Life? I'm 46, pack a B.S., a Masters, and have recently signed up for a BSN. I'm all excited about this new career. What I'm praying for this patience to do the day to day classes and the endurance to last from morning till night. I'm not too worried about the career prospects though. If you've shifted for the right reasons then I'm sure you'll see it through and come out alright. Besides, I'm tickled pink to think of what all my friends and colleagues and students (present and past) will say when they find out this latest endeavor of mine!